Frist Predicts Agreement on Torture Ban
Sunday, December 11, 2005
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,178361,00.htmlWASHINGTON — The Senate and the White House will reach agreement on a proposal to ban the use of torture in gaining information from suspected terrorists, Majority Leader Bill Frist predicted on Sunday.
The ban's sponsor, Sen. John McCain, has said he would refuse to yield on his demands that the Bush administration agree with his plan, which passed the Senate by a 90-9 vote. McCain, R-Ariz., is insisting on his language that no person in U.S. custody should be subject to "cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment."
The administration says the United States does not torture and follows international conventions on the treatment of prisoners. But the White House is wary of restrictions that might prevent interrogators from gaining information vital to the nation's security. "I think that there will be -- you say a deal," Frist told "FOX News Sunday."
"I think there will be clarification of what we mean. How aggressive can one be to get information -- not torture, but, you know, what does degrading mean? Do you not want to degrade a terrorist -- not hurt them, but degrade them -- if they're going to take out your family, if they're going to assassinate you? That's the question that's being worked out," said Frist, R-Tenn.